Rey Anthony H.
Chiu
TAGBILARAN CITY, Sept 14 (PIA) -- Crucial roads that could spur
agricultural development in otherwise impenetrable idle areas, reduce hauling
costs, cut travel time for basic services and local commute, as well as expand
employment opportunities - these are but some of the benefits of the
partnership between the government and the World Bank (WB) as they aim to set
up in Bohol a total of 17.81 kilometers of key farm-to-market roads.
The total farm access roads development is from four areas which
the World Bank partnership with the government of the Philippines and the local
government units agreed to fund under the Department of Agriculture's (DA) Philippine
Rural Development Project (PRDP).
Benefitting from the DA PRDP Intensified Building Up of
Infrastructure and Logistics for Development (I-BUILD) are the rehabilitation
of the 5.9838 kilometers of San Agustin-Canmaya Diot Farm to Market Road (FMR)
in Sagbayan, 5.5 kilometers of Alegria-Bugho FMR in Loboc, the 3.54 kilometers
Ba-ang-Mahayag Norte FMR in Catigbian and the 2.84 kilometers Del Carmen
Weste-Tugbas FMR in Balilihan town.
All the rehabilitated FMRs now sport the all-weather Portland Concrete
Cement Pavement, road shoulders, box culverts, cross drains, and lined
canals.
The FMR rehab projects cut an average of 51% of travel time in
those mentioned areas, cuts 47% of hauling costs for inputs and farm produce,
allows the entry of 70% more transport players, develops over 300 more hectares
of cogonal lands, increases land valuation and spurs employment opportunities
as well as allows easier access of government basic services, according to
project proponents.
Developing, upgrading and rehabilitating these named areas cost P
152,368, 179.00 with the WB partnering with the Government of the Philippines,
Provincial and Local Governments the governments putting up equity funds,
according to project briefers distributed during a press conference September
14.
The Press conference happened a few hours after the First World
Bank Implementation Support Mission opened at the Pavilion of the Bellevue
Hotel in Panglao.
The PRDP is a six-year program national project under the DA
designed to establish an inclusive climate resilient and market-oriented
agri-forestry sector through strategic investments in priority commodity value
chains, the press conference showed.
It aims to increase by 50% annual real farm income of
beneficiaries, 30% increase in enterprise development from same beneficiaries
and some 20% increase in number of farmers and fishers with improved access to
agri-services.
PRDP components include investments planning (I-PLAN), I-BUILD,
Investments in Rural Enterprises and Agriculture and Fisheries Productivity
(I-REAP) and Implementation Support to PRDP (I-SUPPORT).
Along the spread of time, PRDP follows a value chain analysis,
which allows stakeholders and communities to get inputs for their commodity
investments, explained Engr. Arnel de Mesa during the press conference.
DA Regional Director Angel Enriquez also said the baseline study
which the project has started could be a useful tool to fit all other future
plans for agricultural development.
The projects also use applied geo-tagging to make sure it does not
overlap with other similar projects resulting in lost government resources,
adopts a document tracking system and puts up a grievance redress mechanism in
a flexed effort to make sustainability and empowerment enable communities and
expand their opportunities. (rmn/rac/PIA-7/Bohol)